


Spellbound

by SleepingAshes



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Demons, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Witchcraft, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 02:41:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15257628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepingAshes/pseuds/SleepingAshes
Summary: Yang is a young witch looking to try her first summoning. Unfortunately things go wrong and she summons a chaos demon named Mercury. With no clue on how she summoned him or how to send him back to his realm, what will she do?





	Spellbound

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shipperoftrashyships](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shipperoftrashyships/gifts).



> This is an idea I wrote for shipperoftrashyships! Thank you for being patient with me while I figured out how to write this! I hope to have more G&G for everyone in the future!
> 
> In this AU hunters/huntresses are basically witches. Everyone still has a semblance and a few characters are different types of demons instead of humans or witches. Hope everyone enjoys!

It was a dark, stormy night. Perfect for a summoning. Yang was still a young witch but she felt she was ready to perform her first summoning ritual. It wasn’t going to be anything grand, just summoning a small demon bird. Maybe she could make it a familiar if it was friendly enough. She lit the last candle and opened her spellbook to read the incantation.

The candles flickered and she swore the wind outside picked up, startling her just a bit. She paused for a moment, trying to push down the mix of anxiety and anticipation. She could do this, she had this. It was a bird, it wasn’t like she could mess this up. Yang looked back down at the book in her hands and continued, trying not to fumble over any words too badly.

When she finished the spell, the candles mysteriously went out. The summoning circle in the middle of the room glowed a dark red color. This was it… Yang took a step closer to the circle, looking on in hope that this worked. A thick fog began pouring out from the circle and in a literal flash, the summoning was complete.

Yang was stunned. This wasn’t a bird. This was a real, full blown demon she’d summoned. He took the shape of a human man with silver hair and grey eyes. The demon smirked at her, placing a hand on his hip.

“Well, this is unexpected.” His voice snapped her out of her stupor.

“What-no way- nope,” Yang stuttered, grabbing her spellbook, “Go back to wherever the hell you came from!”

“Excuse me?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “You summoned me, don’t act surprised.”

“You were supposed to be a bird!”

“You were trying to summon a bird?”

Yang sighed heavily,

“Yes! Obviously something went wrong-”

“You messed up.”

“Or someone gave me the wrong spell because I did not want to summon a whole demon! Just a little bird, you know one of the ones that’s harmless, I just wanted a familiar!”

The demon’s smirk widened.

“I could give you a better time than any familiar would.”

Yang’s mouth fell open.

“No.” She said firmly. “Listen up, demon, we’re not doing anything! You’re leaving. Now.”

“Ok, then vanish me.”

Yang paused, frowning. She didn’t know how to do that. That would involve her knowing how she’d messed up this spell and using a specific vanishing spell for whatever type of demon this guy was. Her spellbook wasn’t going to have that information… She could check her father’s spellbook or maybe her uncle’s but that would involve leaving a demon alone in her home which just couldn’t happen.

“I don’t...know how…” Yang muttered.

The demon looked slightly amused but mostly annoyed. He sighed dramatically, gaining Yang’s attention.

“Just my luck, getting summoned by an incompetent witch like you.”

“Hey! I’m not incompetent! I wouldn’t have been able to summon you if I wasn’t powerful!” Yang shouted, “If you keep being rude to me I’m not letting you out of that circle.”

“That’s fine, I can do my job from here.”

Yang narrowed her eyes at him.

“You can’t eat my soul if I stay away from the circle.”

The demon broke out in a fit of laughter. Yang gave him a look of confusion but quickly schooled her expression. If he saw she was confused, he’d just make fun of her and irritate her even more.

“I’m not that kind of demon, blondie.” He explained. “I’m a chaos demon, not the kind who eats your soul. Like yours would taste good anyways.”

“My soul would taste awesome, for the record. But honestly I don’t need you bringing chaos to my house. If I let you out of the circle will you leave? Find somewhere else to ruin with your demon powers and all that.”

“In theory I could. But I’m feeling lazy after being summoned on accident. Maybe if you let me crash here and I can be on my way in the morning?” The demon asked in the most innocent tone he could muster. Yang wasn’t buying it for a second but...this was her fault.

“One night, that’s all I’m giving you.”

“I’ll take what I can get.” The demon held out a hand to Yang, “I’m Mercury, by the way.”

“Yang.” She said shaking his hand, “You’re welcome into my home now.”

The circle disappeared from around Mercury and the candles flickered back to life. Mercury took a proper look around Yang’s house. It wasn’t anything too big, perfectly cozy for one person. He could make it work for a night.

“Nice house.”

“Thanks?”

Yang sighed, setting her spellbook aside and turning on the lights. She blew out the candles and cleaned up her ritual area, glad that Mercury was being patient with her at least. He looked around her supplies but didn’t touch anything thankfully. After she cleaned up her supplies she escorted Mercury to her guest room.

“Make yourself comfortable, I guess. I’m going to sleep. This has been a hectic night…”

“Tends to happen when I’m involved.” Mercury teased. “Night, blondie.”

“It’s Yang. And goodnight Mercury.”

**~*~**

Yang was woken up by a loud knocking on the door. She dragged herself out of bed, not quite registering the events of the previous night as she made her way to the door. Ruby was waiting for her which wasn’t unusual. It was only after the door though that Yang realized maybe she should have checked on Mercury first.

Ruby didn’t get out a hello before she noticed the silver haired demon somewhere behind Yang. He was relaxing on the couch as if he owned the place. Yang resisted the urge to bang her head against the wall, cursing herself for her mistake.

“Who...is this?” Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow. “Is he a...guy...friend?”

“No, ew,” Yang made a disgusted face.

“Oh come on. I’m not that bad.” Mercury said in his defense. “Hi, I’m Mercury. I’m a demon.”

“A whaa….Yang what did you do?”

“Remember when I said I wanted to try summoning? Well...I did it and it backfired… I may have summoned a chaos demon.”

Ruby stared at her, stunned. Yang was pretty sure she knew what was going through her sisters head right now. How did you summon a chaos demon? What are you going to do about that? Do you know how to send him back? She’d probably ask how to summon her own demon because, knowing Ruby, that sounded like a “cool” thing to do.

“Does dad know?” Ruby asked first.

“Oh, gods no. And he can’t know. You can’t tell him.”

“So you know how to fix this by yourself?”

Yang sighed and looked at Mercury.

“We’re...working out how to fix this. I may need you to help me steal dad or Qrow’s spellbook…”

“Or you could kick him out.” Ruby offered.

Mercury scoffed and shook his head.

“Oh I forgot to mention. It won’t be that simple.” He said.

Yang turned to him, frowning.

“What do you mean?”

“Since you summoned me the only real way to get rid of me is to vanish me with a spell. It won’t be as easy as kicking me out. I can only stay away from you for a certain amount of time before it starts to drain your power.”

“...Excuse me?”

“You really didn’t do your research on summoning did you?” Mercury looked amused as he spoke. “Your power is keeping me here in your realm. It’s giving me this physical form, thanks by the way for giving me a good looking one, and it’ll strain you if I go too far for too long. I’m pretty sure it’ll just pull me back if I leave for too long but there is a chance it could kill you. Oops.”

Yang’s mouth fell open in shock. She’d only wanted a familiar, now she was stuck with this demon until she found out whatever incredibly specific spell she might need to get rid of him. On top of that if she did kick him out she could die? She couldn’t believe the situation she’d landed herself in.

“Ruby we need to fix this. Fast.”

Yang quickly got ready for the day and headed off to her father’s home for an impromptu visit. She’d distract Taiyang, Ruby would steal his spellbook, and then Yang just had to find the spell that would work. If anyone had a demon vanishing spell it’d be her father; she trusted that much. The only problem was Mercury…

“Let’s go through this one more time,” Yang said as the trio approached Tai’s home. “You’re someone I know from work. A totally normal human being. Got it?”

“Sure, blondie.”

“It’s Yang. Stop calling me that.”

“Whatever you say, goldilocks.”  
“I am going to punch that smug look off your face if you don’t quit it!” Yang threatened, eyes flaring red from her semblance kicking in. “I’ll make you wish you could just run away!”

Mercury held his hands up in defeat.

“Fine, fine, Yang it is.”

“Thank you.” The blonde grumbled, calming down.

“So...your name is Yang.”

“Wow you’re perceptive.”

“And your father’s name is Taiyang.”

“Yup.”

“What’s up with that? That’s kind of weird.”

“Mercury has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?”

The demon smirked.

“Oh plenty people have. Humans and demons alike.”

“Somehow I don’t think anyone misses you that much from your demon realm.” Ruby said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Anyways,” Yang cut in, “We’re here. Try not to break anything or I’ll break your legs.”

Mercury rolled his eyes but followed Yang’s lead all the same. They found Taiyang in the garden with Qrow. Qrow’s presence could be a problem… He always seemed to know when something was up. Or when one of them screwed up.

“Yang, Ruby!” Tai said, smiling. “What brings you here today?”

“Oh nothing much,” Yang said as innocently as she could. “Just wanted to check in with the best dad in the whole world.”

“Alright, what do you want?” Tai asked, raising an eyebrow.

Yang seemed to be doing her best to distract Tai. Unfortunately Qrow was not as easily distracted. The pair exchanged a quick look but no one thought anything of it.

“Who’s your friend?” The dark haired man asked.

“Oh this guy? He’s no one-”

“Yang is he your boyfriend?” Tai asked suddenly.

Yang choked. Mercury couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ohmygod n--”

“Yes, I sure am. Hi, I’m Mercury, I’m blondie’s boyfriend.”

“Why is Yang acting so weird today?” Tai seemed serious.

“Mercury I swear-”

“She’s pregnant we need a loan from you to get a bigger house for the twins when they’re born.” Mercury cut Yang off, smirking.

Yang looked mortified. Tai held his serious look for exactly five seconds before he broke out in a fit of laughter. Qrow didn’t seem as amused. Mercury didn’t process that Ruby had run off, but luckily it didn’t seem like Tai had either. Qrow excused himself while Tai chatted it up with Mercury and a still mortified Yang.

He went back into the house for a refill on his flask when he stumbled upon Ruby rummaging through Tai’s spellbooks.

“What are you doing, kiddo?” He asked, approaching her.

“Uuuuhh...well...I was looking for something I dropped…”

“Ruby.”

“It’s somewhere around here…”

“Ruby.”

“Ok, ok! I’m trying to help Yang find a vanishing spell because she accidentally summoned a demon who definitely is not that weird guy out there talking to dad and-- and--! Sorry?” Ruby spilled, wincing.

Qrow sighed, shaking his head.

“Of course.” He muttered. “Alright. Let’s go talk to your dad.”

“Uncle Qrow?”

“Hm?”

“Am I in trouble?”

Qrow shrugged.

“That’s up to Tai to decide.”

Ruby reluctantly followed Qrow outside where Tai, Yang, and Mercury were still talking. Tai acknowledged the pair and motioned for them to come closer.

“You won’t believe what I found Ruby doing.”

“Oh? Ruby, care to tell?”

“Yang I may have...spilled your secret?” Ruby said sheepishly.

“Ruby!”

“I was...looking through dad’s spellbooks to try to find a vanishing spell for...you know who… Sorry dad.”

Tai let out a chuckle.

“Did you really think I couldn’t tell your friend was a demon, Yang?”

Yang froze.

“You knew?”

“Qrow and I knew right away.” Tai explained. “We’ve been practicing witchcraft for ages, girls. Give us some credit.”

Yang and Ruby looked away, to the ground. Mercury just looked amused.

“Yang how did you summon a demon?” Qrow asked, seemingly tired.

“I don’t know, I messed up my spell and it just...happened.

“So naturally you don’t know how to get rid of him. Alright… I’ll start looking for a vanishing spell tomorrow. It’ll take some time so until then you’ll have to make do.” Qrow said. He turned to Mercury. “Will I have to interrogate you or will you give me information about yourself willingly?”

“I’m an open book, Branwen.”

Qrow narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t recall giving you my last name.”

“I know a Branwen when I see one. I’d be honored to show you the power of a chaos demon.” Mercury said smirking.

Yang shifted where she stood, not sure what to do. Tai gave her a small smile to calm her down.

“This ought to be fun, right?” He said.

Fun wasn’t the word Yang would use to describe her situation.

**~*~**

It was official. Yang was stuck with Mercury. After a few days of sulking, she decided she’d have to deal with it. Mercury didn’t seem bothered at all. It gave him something to do, or so he claimed. But if his powers messed up Yang’s house, she would lock him in the basement and he would never leave. That wasn’t just a threat, she promised him it would happen.

Mercury wasn’t the worst housemate. He was just...obnoxious from time to time. Like now, where he refused to make room on the couch for Yang to sit with him while he watched TV. She was half tempted to use her semblance to force him off the couch but instead she just sat on his legs in hopes to annoy him.

“What are you doing blondie?”

“You won’t move! Don’t act like I’m in the wrong!” Yang said, sticking out her tongue at him.

“What are you five?”

“On a scale of one to five, hell yeah I am.”

Mercury cringed.

“That was bad.”

“Not as bad as half the stuff that comes out of your mouth.” Yang mumbled, reaching for the remote to change the channel.

“I was watching that.”

“My house, my rules. Plus I summoned you so doesn’t that make me your master or something?”

“Kinky, but no. It doesn’t. We didn’t sign any contracts or make any bond. We’re just roommates until that uncle of yours can figure out the spell to send me back.”

Yang hummed, flipping the channel to check the weather for the week. Mercury’s legs shifted underneath her but she wasn’t going to move. She dealt with him when he was being a jerk, now he’d deal with her.

“Aw damn, it’s gonna rain tomorrow.”

“What’s so special about tomorrow?”

“I go back to work.” Yang groaned. “I gotta walk and it’s gonna raaaain… Do your demon powers control the weather?”

“Nope. No such luck, goldilocks. You could always summon a colleague of mine though.”

“Tempting, but I already have to deal with one demon. I think I’d go crazy if I had to deal with two.” Yang sighed and wiggled, trying to get comfortable sitting on top of Mercury. “Your legs are so boney. It’s not comfortable to sit on.”

“Then get off!” Mercury said, grabbing a pillow from the couch and hitting her with it.

“Hey!”

Yang smirked and grabbed the pillow on her side of the couch, launching it at Mercury’s face. He was hit so hard he fell back onto the couch and laid there for a moment. The lights flickered as Mercury slowly sat up.

“You’ve done it now.”

“Oh really?” Yang said in a teasing tone.

Mercury forced his legs up, making Yang fall off the couch. He armed himself with his own pillow once more and stood in a battle stance.

“Get ready, blondie,”

“I was born ready.”

A half hour later the two were exhausted, flopping onto the couch not caring where their limbs ended up. One of Yang’s pillows hard burst open sending feathers everywhere. She wasn’t as mad as she felt she should be. Mercury was a chaos demon after all, she felt this was going to be the new norm.

“Well that was fun. ...Sorry about your pillow.”

“No you aren’t.”

“You’re right, I’m not.”

Yang hummed.

“This doesn’t mean we’re friends or anything. I’m just dealing with you. You know that right?”

“Oh, I know. But maybe it isn’t the worst being stuck with you for now.”

**~*~**

The weather channel had been right, it was raining. Luckily it wasn’t so bad but Yang had a feeling that would change as the day went on. Whether it was a case of bad luck or Mercury’s demonic chaos abilities, Yang just knew deep down it would start pouring. That didn’t deter her though. She was going to make her first day back at work the damn best she could.

Mercury had to tag along due to the whole demon-human-distance thing. Yang still wondered how long she could leave Mercury alone but considering it could negatively affect her health she decided not to risk it.

The two arrived at Ozpin’s diner right on schedule. Yang explained her predicament to her boss, and Mercury was given a table to stay at for the day. Drinks on the house apparently. Mercury acted the nicest he ever had; overbearingly sweet and thankful. Yang wanted to puke, it was so fake.

“Just stay here and stay out of the way. Can you do that for a couple hours?” Yang asked as she tied on an apron, finishing putting on her uniform.

“Maybe if you gave me your scroll I could entertain myself?”

“Nope, I don’t trust you not to screw with everyone I know. Have fun watching sports all day.”

With that, Yang got to work. Mercury paid attention to the small television playing above the establishments bar every now and then but mostly he was bored out of his mind. It was interesting for him to watch Yang work so hard though. Rationally, he knew humans had to work to make a living but he’d just assumed her being a witch meant she lived off that. It wasn’t a stretch to assume she wasn’t quite there yet with her magic.

She’d summoned him on accident, after all, and she was young. It struck Mercury he’d forgotten how a lot of humans operated. He’d gotten small, quick jobs from witches over the past hundred years. He hadn’t been in the mortal realm for an extended period of time in a long time… Yang was definitely providing him an experience, whether it was intentional or not.

Mercury’s eyes followed her as she helped a customer, running back and forth to get just what the guy wanted. He seemed to be giving her a hassle. Once he swore he saw her eyes flare red but she managed to keep her cool. It made him wonder what her semblance was and how much of a threat she would be if she was really angry.

It was a theory he might test out himself one day, depending on how he was feeling…

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Yang sat down at the table in front of him.

“What’s up?” He questioned, taking a sip from his drink.

“I’m on break. Ugh, that guy was insane. All he wanted was damn chicken nuggets but he wanted them in a specific way and he wanted, like, fifty of them? Who even eats that many chicken nuggets!”

“...What’s a chicken nugget?”

Yang stared at him.

“You’re kidding right?”

“...No.”

“Oh my god.” Yang sprung up and pulled one of her coworkers aside. “Hey, Nora, can you get me and my friend an order of chicken nuggets and fries?”

“Sure thing, Yang! Be right back!”

In no time at all, Nora brought them their plates and left them to it. Mercury stared curiously at the nuggets before picking at one with a fork. Yang watched him with an intense look, waiting for him to actually eat one. Mercury cautiously picked one up and took a bite.

“Holy shit these are good.”

“Hah! There, I found a human food you like!”

“Can we have more of these?”

“Uh, maybe. How many do you want?”

“A hundred.” Mercury said, smirking.

“Nope, no way in hell!”

Yang’s break was over all too soon. Mercury only had to last another hour and a half of boredom before the pair could go home. He spent it watching sports he knew nothing about and munching on the chicken nuggets Yang bought for him. Once Yang’s shift was over she seemed exhausted. Mercury didn’t blame her, it appeared to be a busy day.

Yang didn’t bother getting out of uniform once her shift was done. She collected Mercury and started the walk home. They’d barely gotten a block away from Ozpin’s diner when they ran into the customer who happened to be giving her trouble earlier in the day.

The customer stepped in front of her path, blocking her off. He stood up straight, obviously sizing her up and trying to intimidate her. Yang frowned, but didn’t look frightened. Mercury narrowed his eyes but watched silently for the moment.

“Where do you think you’re going little lady?”

Mercury scoffed. Who did this guy think he was?

“I’m going home. Get out of my way.” Yang said in a straight tone.

“You aren’t going anywhere, not after you and that shit restaurant ripped me off today.”

“The prices are on the menu, you knew how much everything costed when you ordered it. We didn’t rip you off, you’re just an idiot.”

“Hey, I don’t think your manager--”

“I’m not at work I don’t care what the fuck you have to say, it doesn’t matter.” Yang snapped, “Get the fuck out of my way or I’ll make you move, jackass.”

“That’s it, bitch!”

Before Yang or Mercury could react, the man punched Yang square in the jaw. Mercury could tell he’d used enough force to be able to knock her down but Yang barely budged. When she looked up, her eyes were bright red. The man fumbled so Yang took advantage of his guard being down and punched him back with what seemed to be the force of two men that guys size. The man flew backwards, crashing into a light post some ways down the road.

“Dumbass.” Yang muttered, wiping blood from the corners of her mouth.

“So that’s your semblance.” Mercury realized aloud. “You take hits and punch back stronger.”

“You’re perceptive.” The blonde said sarcastically. It was obvious she was in a sour mood after what had transpired. Mercury couldn’t blame her.

“I could always use my own abilities if you want to make his life even more miserable.”

Yang seemed to contemplate it for a moment but ended up shaking her head.

“No, he’s already down. I don’t think he’ll mess with me again.”

Mercury shrugged before walking up to Yang and putting an arm around her shoulder. He smirked and enjoyed the confused look on her face for a moment before speaking.

“You’re cute when you’re mad, blondie.”

“Oh shut up!” Yang rolled her eyes and shook his arm off of her, but she was smiling again and strangely, that’s what mattered to Mercury. “I’ll punch you too if you don’t shut it.”

The silver haired demon let out a laugh.

“I’d like to see you try. Let’s go home, Yang.”

**~*~**

Time passed quickly. A month had gone by since Yang summoned Mercury. The pair were making it work far better than Yang could have anticipated. Qrow was working tirelessly for Yang, trying to find the spell needed to vanish the demon. So far, he hadn’t had much luck. He’d told her he found some information she might be interested in and the two planned to meet up when Yang had a get together for Ruby’s birthday.

Mercury helped Yang decorate her cozy home for the party. He only complained a little… well, a lot, but at least he did the work she gave him.

“So humans celebrate like this every year? That sounds troublesome.”

“It’s fun. It’s a big ‘way to go, you made it another year’ so what’s so wrong about that? Plus there’s cake. Never pass up and opportunity for cake.”

“More of your human food.” Mercury muttered. “I expect a piece of this ‘cake’ since it supposedly tastes so good.”

Yang paused putting up some streamers to look at him.

“You really don’t know a lot about humans, huh?”

Mercury shook his head.

“I told you, I only had quick jobs up until this. Ruin a person's life here, burn down a building there. The works.”

“You never leave your realm when you aren’t...I don’t know, on duty?”

“I don’t have a reason to.”

“Doesn’t it get lonely spending all your time in the demon realm?”

“It gets annoying but I don’t get lonely. I don’t experience emotions the same way you humans do. I don’t get alone or sad like that. I get enough jobs from witches for it to be an entertaining existence so that’s enough for me.” Mercury explained. “Plus, I’m young so I haven’t had time to get bored yet.”

Yang blinked.

“Young? What’s young for a demon?”

“Couple hundred years old is young. My associate- Cinder- she’s always teasing me and telling me when I get to her age and status and blah blah blah…”

Yang made a noise of acknowledgement and got back to work. She wanted to play her cards carefully here. If she asked innocently enough maybe she could learn more about Mercury’s life as a demon.

“Soo…” She said, putting the streamers up. “Is Cinder a friend?”

“Associate.”

“You always refer to other demons like that. Don’t you have friends?”

“Demons don’t really have friends.” Mercury admitted. “We work together and coexist but there’s no reason to have a relationship deeper than that. We get contracted and brought to the human world too often for bonds like that to form. On top of it, we’re all different. I’m just a chaos demon, Cinder is more than that. She’s more like my superior than a friend.”

“She sounds strong.”

“She’s one of the strongest of our kind. But another chaos demon, Emerald, is pretty strong too.”

Yang gave him an innocent look.

“But surely you’re stronger than them both, right?” She asked.

“Psh, of course. Effortlessly.” Mercury said without hesitation.

“I’d expect nothing less from you. The big strong chaos demon that you are, you must be the absolute strongest of your kind.” Yang was teasing him but Mercury ate it up.

“Of course I am.” He said proudly.

Yang smiled sweetly.

“Which means I’m stronger than you since I summoned and tamed you.”

Mercury faltered and shot her a look.

“You didn’t tame me.”

“But I could.”

“Oh I’d love for you to try goldilocks.” Mercury said, lights flickering with a show of his powers. He walked up to Yang and stood proudly in front of her, hands on his hips. Yang in turn crossed her arms over her chest and leaned forward.

“Is that a challenge?” She asked with a flare of red in her eyes.

“Damn straight it is.” Mercury said, leaning to meet her.

Before either could realize how close they were and how much they were teasing each other, a knock on the door snapped them out of it. Yang tossed Mercury the remaining decorations and yelled at him to quickly put them up before opening the door.

She was met with Weiss, Blake, Qrow, and Nora. She figured the others would be arriving later.

“Weiss! Blake! It’s so good to see you!” Yang said, throwing her arms around the pair. “It feels like it’s been forever!”

“Oh please Yang, it’s been two months.” Weiss said, rolling her eyes at her friends dramatic attitude. “Ruby isn’t here yet?”

“Nope, Jaune and Ren are occupying her attention while we finish up.”

Nora handed Yang a box, presumably the one with the cake in it. Mercury poked his head around the corner to watch the girls talking.

“Thanks for picking this up Nora, sorry I wasn’t able to get it myself.”

“Aww it’s fiiine.” Nora waved her hand. “Ozpin made it special for Ruby so you know it’s gonna be great.”

“I’ll go set this in the kitchen, go make yourselves comfortable. You know where everything is. And uh, Qrow, can you help me with something? I need your manly man height to get a few things down for me.”

Qrow nodded and headed straight for the kitchen. The other girls filed into the living room, Nora not paying Mercury any attention but Blake and Weiss definitely paused and stared.

“Oh…” Blake fumbled. “Is this your...roommate?” The faunus asked.

“This is Mercury,” Yang introduced. “He’s the demon I accidentally summoned. If he starts acting up just let me know and I’ll kick him for you.”

“I won’t hesitate to do it myself.” Weiss promised.

Yang laughed and made her way to the kitchen. She set the cake on the counter and turned to Qrow, who was already holding out papers for her. The gods only knew where he kept them, but she took them and began scanning over everything. It was about chaos demons and how demons came into existence. She paused when she read a particular paragraph.

“This is what you wanted me to see?” She asked in a hushed tone.

Qrow nodded.

“Did a little digging and I think you’re friend isn’t an ordinary demon. He used to be human.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“He’s adjusted to human life and culture like it’s second nature. He socializes better than any demon I’ve seen, even if he is a dick about it. He’s not as bloodthirsty as I’ve seen a demon be. He needs to stay close to you or there will be problems. He’s weak. That’s not normal, Yang.” Qrow explained. “He talks big game but if it came down to it he’d lose against a full demon. He’s only got half of it all going for him.”

“What are you implying?”

“I’m saying he’s not worth all the trouble we’re going through. A better demon would just kill you and be on his way.” Qrow sighed, taking out his flask. “All this for some second class demon. I better find that vanishing spell quickly, this guy is giving me a headache just being near me.”

“He’s not that bad.” Yang said softly. “He’s annoying but he could have tried something by now. He could have tried to kill me like you said, or he could have tried to seek out a stronger witch and not care about what could happen to me. He’s...being patient.”

“Don’t tell me you actually like hanging around this demon.” Qrow said, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s not that, trust me. I just...well, we were talking. He told me he was young in demon terms. They don’t experience things the same way. I think we’re friendly and I don’t think he’s had a relationship like that before. I still want him gone I just think we’re understanding each other more now.”

Qrow gave her a look but said nothing.

“Ruby should be here soon.” He muttered. “Let’s hope that demon of yours doesn’t use his powers to ruin the day.”

“It’ll be fine, uncle.” Yang said, assurring him. “Trust me on this, ok?”

Qrow hesitantly nodded.

“You know I trust you, kiddo. If you think he’s ok then I’ll just have to deal with that. Just know if he does something to you… Well, I’ve slayed a demon before.”

Yang gave him a confused look but before she could question what Qrow meant, she heard the door open and a loud ‘Surprise!’ from the living room. Yang cursed.

“Shit, we missed it! Come on, let’s go!” She said, grabbing Qrow’s arm and dragging him out to the living room to greet her sister.

Ruby was all smiles and laughs. While everyone caught up, Mercury lingered in the background making a comment here and there but mostly he observed. No one called him out on it, but he was pretty sure he was staring. He’d seen Yang with her family and coworkers but this was the first time he’d seen her with all of her friends in one place.

Yang was cracking jokes left and right, being the life of the party. Everyone seemed to adore her and strangely Mercury could see why. He could understand why Ruby and Qrow cared for her so much, he could get why the others would want to be her friend. He’d never say it out loud but maybe he did consider her as a friend. He was so caught up in thought he didn’t realize Qrow walk up next to him and place a hand on his shoulder with his flask in his other hand.

“Enjoying the party?” Qrow asked, just a slight slur to his voice.

Mercury took a step away from the man, flinching just a bit.

“Yeah, it’s...great.” Mercury said, discomfort obvious in his tone.

Qrow paused, giving him a look Mercury couldn’t quite read. It took the man a moment but he put the flask away and looked back to Yang and her friends.

“You should socialize.”

“What am I going to say? Hi I’m Mercury, I’m a demon. What do you do for a living?”

“You flaunted it around me and Tai.” Qrow reminded him. “But I get what you mean. Not exactly a great first impression you have going.”

Mercury scoffed. That was an understatement.

“I don’t care about first impressions or what they think of me.” Mercury only half lied.

“Then what’s bothering you?”

“Nothi--”

“Maybe it’s the fact you’ll never have bonds like the ones they share?” Qrow offered up, a bit of a bitter tone in his voice. “Are you jealous?”

Mercury frowned and looked at Yang. She was talking with the girl with white hair, Weiss. Her hand was resting on Weiss’ leg, they were laughing about some inside joke. Ruby was braiding Blake’s hair, Ren and Nora were practically cuddling. Jaune was leaning against Ren, laughing at something Ruby said. Was he jealous? No, that was ridiculous.

“Are _you_ jealous?” Mercury finally bit back. “Yang hasn’t mentioned you having any friends or meaningful relationships. Maybe you’re just a bitter old man. Is that why you drink so damn much?”

Mercury didn’t wait for a response. He glared at Qrow then went to break up whatever near-cuddling was going on with Yang and Weiss. He inserted himself into the conversation flawlessly and kept himself distracted. The scent of Qrow’s alcohol lingered in the back of his mind but he couldn’t place why.

Qrow just stared at Mercury with an amused look on his face. He let the demon mingle for a bit but eventually broke up the party so Ruby could have some cake. No one complained about that. At the end of the day Yang seemed happier than Mercury had ever seen her.

**~*~**

Sometimes Yang forgot Mercury was a demon. Whenever she did, he’d promptly remind her with a show of his powers. Mostly he just messed with the area around her, nothing extreme. But every now and then he’d make a light burst or something fell across the street. She’d only know it was his doing because of the smug look he got on his face.

Mercury found he liked messing with Yang’s friends too. Blake was easy to irritate, Ruby took it in stride, but Weiss? Oh Weiss was his favorite to mess with. She’d get so strung up and he’d just laugh at her.

Yang had her friends over for a movie day; Mercury sat in his own chair while the girls were curled up on the couch. He was paying half attention to the movie but mostly he couldn’t take his eyes off of Weiss and Yang.

The pair was sitting close, way closer than Ruby and Blake or Ruby and Yang. Their hands were intertwined, Weiss’ head rested on Yang’s shoulder… Were they an item? Why did Mercury care? He didn’t, he told himself. It was just information he needed to further mess with Yang. Of course, that was it.

When the movie ended the girls all went home and it was Mercury and Yang once more. She seemed tired but that didn’t deter him from questioning her.

“So…” He started, “You and Weiss?”

“What about us?”

“Are you two…”

“O-oh. No, not anymore at least. We dated a while back but we decided it wouldn’t work in the long run.”

The demon hummed.

“So you go for women?”

“I go both ways, I guess.” Yang said, shrugging. “Girls and boys both have their perks.”

“I see.” Mercury said with a mischievous look in his eyes.

“Why are you asking?”

Mercury only smirked, causing Yang to blush. Her blush only intensified when he leaned in close with one of his hands caressing her cheek.

“I’ll see you in the morning, blondie.” He whispered. He nearly closed the distance between them when he suddenly pulled away and broke out in a fit of laughter. “That was too easy! You should’ve seen the look on your face!”

Yang growled.

“You’re ridiculous!”

“Whatever, I’m beat! Have fun fantasizing about me!”

Yang huffed but said nothing as the silver haired demon left the room. She could feel her face was still red and self consciously crossed her arms over her chest, shifting awkwardly. Mercury had really gotten to her this time. Why did he have to tease her like that? It wasn’t like he was into her for real...was he?

“No that’s ridiculous…” Yang muttered to herself.

Of course the demon was just messing with her. It’s what he did.

**~*~**

Mercury didn’t have much of a choice but to tag along when Yang said they were going out clubbing. He didn’t know why the idea put him off so much but he’d put on his suave guy act and now he was miserable sitting alone while Yang and her friends drank their hearts away. Yang was trying to involve him at least.

She’d offer him a drink but the idea repulsed him so he turned her down every time. She’d pried a bit on his odd attitude that evening but he’d pushed her away time and time again… He shouldn’t be mad that she stopped checking up on him. It was his own fault.

He sighed heavily, sipping on his soft drink. At some point he’d lost track of where Yang was. She often came back to refill her drink but she was with _Weiss_ again so he didn’t bother talking to her. He wanted to do something to distract himself but the only thing on his mind was using his powers to mess with the lights or music. That would just get everyone in the club angry though so it didn’t feel worth it.

“Merc!” Yang’s voice cut through the music.

She took a seat next to him, whiskey in hand. Her face was flushed from a mix of dancing and alcohol. Though the drink in her hand nearly ruined the picture, Mercury thought it was a good look on her.

“Merc? Been a while since anyone called me that. What’s up goldilocks? Lose your friends?”

“Aw, no, Blake stole Weiss away and Ruby’s off with someone I think. You haven’t been dancing huh?”

“Nope. Why, you wanna dance?”

Yang smiled, big and bright. She grabbed him by his hands and dragged him out of his seat.

“Hell yeah! Let’s get down on the dancefloor!”

Mercury couldn’t protest if he wanted to. She dragged him to the middle of the floor where most people were paired off, grinding and making out. It wasn’t exactly his scene so he focused on Yang. The lights flashed, making the look in her eyes somewhat mysterious. She gave him a smirk as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled their bodies close.

“What do you want me to do?” Mercury asked rather quietly.

If Yang had been more sober, she might have registered that this was the first time she’d flustered him and caught him off guard.

“Put your hands on me, Merc.” Yang said, leaning close to whisper in his ear, “Touch me and move to the beat of the music. It’ll feel good, I promise.”

Mercury’s hands went to her waist, grabbing her lightly as his body began to sway to the electro pop tune filling the club. He heard her giggle as she rested her head against his chest. They were probably the most tame pair on the floor so far, so as the first song ended and the next one began Mercury decided to change that.

He felt his regular confidence growing once more and moved his hands down to grope Yang’s ass.

“That’s more like it.” She said, biting her lip.

Mercury smirked.

“So, you go both ways right?” He asked in a teasing tone.

Yang raised her head from his chest to look at him. She hummed, smiling and pressing her breasts up against his chest as an answer.

“Mmhm~”

“Only men and women?”

Yang cocked her head to the side innocently.

“What are you asking?”

Mercury gave her a quick nip on her exposed neck then whispered to her,

“Ever been with a demon before?”

He felt her shiver, their bodies were so close. All of the music and lights were an afterthought to him. Right now he just focused on the heat surrounding them and Yang herself. He felt her hand grip his hair as she closed the distance between them.

Kissing Yang was like playing with fire. She was excited, rough, and teasing all at once. She bit down on his lip playfully so he bit right back. Yang was quickly taking charge of the moment. Mercury didn’t mind nearly as much as he thought he would. He let her grab one of his hands to grope her tighter, he let her press herself closer. He was lost in the moment until he felt her tongue in his mouth.

It wasn’t that the kiss was suddenly bad. It was amazing, it made Mercury feel alive. It was the taste of whiskey that made him pull away like he’d been burned. Yang looked a mix of offended and confused.

“What--”

“I need to get out of here.” Mercury rushed, pushing her away a bit too roughly and walking past her. He pushed through the crowd of people, not caring how rude he was being. The only thing on his mind was getting outside, away from the damn lights, the music, the fucking alcohol-- “Where the fuck is the exit?”

It felt like far too long before he found the door. He shoved it open and practically ran outside. He felt sick though he knew that wasn’t possible. Even though he was breathing fresh air he could still smell the alcohol. It hurt his head, like he was supposed to be remembering something that simply wasn’t there. He gripped at his hair and shouted in frustration.

He didn’t hear the door open and close behind him.

“Mercury what the fuck!” Yang shouted at him.

Mercury growled and forced his hands into his pockets. He turned and was met with bright red eyes. Great.

“Fuck off, blondie.”

“No, you’re explaining what the hell that was!”

“It was a kiss, that’s all it was, don’t get so damn hung up!” Mercury yelled.

“You pushed me! If you didn’t want to do anything more than that you could have just said so! You didn’t have to fucking shove me like-- like--” Yang cut herself off with a loud cry of frustration. She punched a nearby wall, putting a decent dent in it.

Mercury frowned.

“You don’t get to discard me like that! Like I’m trash!”

The demon wanted to say sorry but instead he kept digging himself a hole.

“What, is that how you view yourself?” Mercury spat. “You wouldn’t be far off.”

“What the hell is your problem!” Yang asked, shoving him hard. “You’ve been off all night and now you’re acting like a total dick!”

“I’m a demon, Yang! What the fuck do you expect from me!?” Mercury yelled, louder than either of them had thus far. A nearby street light blew out and toppled over onto someone’s car. Yang jumped at the sound of the windows on the car shattering. Her semblance finally deactivated and this time she looked at Mercury with something other than anger. She looked really, really hurt.

“You’ve been fine being an ass to me but you’ve never done something like this.” She said in a calmer tone. “You’ve never pushed me aside like I was nothing to you.”

“...I’m sorry.” Mercury said, running a hand through his hair roughly. “Something about this place puts me on edge.”

“It’s alcohol isn’t it…?” Yang asked in a small voice. “You wouldn’t drink all night and… I’m sorry if I pushed you--”

“No, it’s fine. You didn’t know. I didn’t know. It just...hurts my head, it makes me think of things and I don’t fucking get it.”

“Mercury…” Yang sighed, “Can I...touch you?”

“What? Sure, fine.”

Yang hesitantly hugged him. He was stunned, he couldn’t move even if he wanted to.

“Look, let’s just go home.” Yang said, “I’m sorry I made you come… But I guess I learned from this mistake. I won’t put you in this position again, Mercury. I promise.”

Mercury slowly wrapped his arms around her and nodded. He didn’t need to say anything, not then. They stayed that way for a minute before Yang pulled away. She text Ruby so her friends wouldn’t worry then the pair headed back to Yang’s. The night had been a mess, one Yang wasn’t sure either was going to talk about again after this. But she had to wonder… Mercury had wanted to kiss her right? If so...then what were they?

**~*~**

The call from Qrow had taken Yang by surprise. He’d found the vanishing spell for Mercury. Yang thought she’d be happy but...it had been nearly six months. She was used to him being around. They were close and...well, Yang was pretty sure she was in love with him. Even so, she took the spell from Qrow and filed it away.

She didn’t know how to tell Mercury she didn’t want him to go. She was scared to. Surely he’d want to go back as soon as he found out. So she wondered if her feelings would even have a chance of making him change his mind.

Yang kept it to herself for a few days but she knew she was acting off. She was quiet and spacey. If she knew it then Mercury had definitely caught on. He hadn’t flat out said she’d been weird but he was trying to distract her from whatever was eating at her. She appreciated it.

It was one night three days after Qrow had given her the spell that Mercury cracked and asked her what was wrong. They were sitting on the couch, watching some bad slasher flick. Yang was staring at her lap more than the movie and Mercury had asked.

“Blondie, Yang, if something’s on your mind you can talk to me about it. No guarantee I’ll be any help but I can listen, for you.” Mercury said.

Yang frowned.

“It’s just…” She sighed, pausing for a moment. “Something happened.”

“Go on.” The demon urged her.

“Qrow found the spell. I can send you back.” She confessed. “But now that I can send you back I realize that I don’t want you to go.”

Mercury’s eyes widened in shock. Yang covered her face with her hands, hiding her frustration from Mercury.

“I think I’m in love with you.” She said, “I’m in love with you and I don’t know what the hell to do.”

The demon was quiet as he considered his words carefully. Yang...was in love with him. He’d had some suspicions that she was into him but he thought it was on a purely physical level. In theory that would have made this easier. If he could go home but they were attracted to each other physically, they could work with that. Love though? Love changed everything.

“You want me to stay?” Mercury asked, clarifying for himself more than anything.

“Yes…” Yang admitted. “I know it’s selfish. I know that, but I want you to stay.”

“I’m not human. I don’t know how to live as a human well enough to not raise suspicions. I’d probably lose a job two days after I got one. I don’t know a lot about your culture or technology.” Mercury said in a serious tone. “I’m not supposed to experience emotions like you do, but what I’m feeling… I think I love you too.”

Yang looked at him, scanning his face for signs of a joke. He seemed entirely serious. Her heart began to beat fast in her chest.

“You mean that?”

“I do.” He said, “I don’t wanna go either.”

“I love you.” Yang said, smiling this time.

“I love you too.”

Mercury stole a quick kiss that left them both blushing and smiling. Yang lightly punched his arm, calling him a dork.

“I’m your dork.” Mercury reminded her.

“Yeah, I guess you are.”

Mercury let the moment stay soft for a moment more before he turned serious again. He cleared his throat and looked away from Yang.

“This will be difficult, you know that right?”

“I know. I’m willing to do what I can to make this work though.”

“Me too.” The demon paused. “I’ll outlive you though. That’s...one thing we can’t make work. At all.”

“Mercury… We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it… How about that?”

Mercury nodded slowly.

“Sounds good to me.”

Yang gave him a sweet smile. Mercury couldn’t help but smile and run a hand through her hair.

“So,” He started in a low voice, “How about we go consummate our relationship, hmm Yang?”

“Oh my god you’re insufferable.”

“That’s not a no.”

Yang didn’t hesitate.

“It’s a hell yes.”

**~*~**

It had been six months since Yang started dating a demon. They were making it work, she was helping Mercury adjust to a more human life and he was keeping her life exciting and interesting as every day passed. They were surprisingly a perfect match.

Unfortunately all good things come to an end.

It was storming outside on the day everything fell apart. Yang was laying with Mercury on the couch watching a show he’d taken a liking to. He was running a hand through her hair and she was in between falling asleep and watching the show. The pair was entirely relaxed until a loud crash of thunder made them both shoot up. It shook the house, making the lights and tv go off.

Yang eased her way up off Mercury, frowning.

“Well that happened…” She muttered, using a spell to make a little bit of light appear in the palm of her hand.

It was only then that she registered how nervous Mercury looked.

“What’s wrong, babe?”

“Yang...stay inside.” He said, getting up and heading toward the door.

She gave him a confused look and followed anyways. When the door opened, she saw a woman waiting outside. She wore a long dress with short hair with bangs that covered one of her eyes. She was smirking, seemingly pleased with herself for finding Yang’s home.

“Mercury, it’s been so long.” The woman said.

“Cinder, what are you doing here?” Mercury asked, tense.

Cinder chuckled.

“I’m here to take you back home of course. Salem realized you’ve been gone for so long and with no contract to speak of...well, there’s no need for you to linger here in the human realm.” Cinder said. She peaked behind Mercury to see Yang. “Ah, who is this?”

“No one.”

“Could this be the young witch Salem told me about? She said she summoned you but wasn’t successful in binding you to her… What a shame. Such a waste of magic.”

“Excuse me--” Yang began but Mercury cut her off.

“Yang. Stop.”

“Yang, is it? What a nice name.” Cinder put a hand on her hip, giving Yang an unnerving smile. “I’m sorry Yang but it seems I’ll be taking Mercury from you. He needs to return home with his own kind or else he might get dull.”

Yang wanted to punch Cinder but she refrained. Surely Mercury could tell her to leave.

“...Ok, Cinder.” Mercury said, shocking Yang.

“Mercury…”

“Yang, I don’t have a choice.”

Cinder nodded.

“If you really cared about him you wouldn’t want him to disobey Salem. It wouldn’t end well for him.” She explained. “And if you get in my way… Well, let’s hope that it doesn’t come to that. For your sake.”

Yang looked at Mercury. She was at a loss. She thought Mercury would try to fight to stay with her, she was willing to fight for him so why wasn’t he trying? Who was this Salem and why did she intimidate Mercury so much that he was just willing to leave? Mercury turned to Yang with an apologetic look.

“We can fight her, Mercury!” Yang tried to argue.

“We can’t. Salem will find out, she’ll come for you and me. I’m sorry.”

“Mercury no…” Yang felt her eyes fill with tears.

Cinder grabbed Mercury and yanked him away from Yang. A portal opened up behind the two and before Yang could move, Cinder forced Mercury through the portal.

“I would say sorry for your loss but… I’m really not.” Cinder said, then stepped through the portal herself.

Yang was left alone. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this upset, this abandoned. She couldn’t stop the tears that fell.

Days passed, then a week, then a month, then two.

Yang hadn’t heard a word from Mercury. She’d tried to summon him again but no such luck. She didn’t even know how she did it the first time but she had to try. She couldn’t just leave their relationship like that. Things were going fine but then that Cinder woman had to come and ruin everything.

Mercury hadn’t recovered from his time in the human realm. Cinder was just about done with his sulking. Emerald was more sympathetic but even then she could understand what Yang had been to him. She tried to get his mind off the humans but no such luck. She was getting worried Mercury was going to do something stupid.

The demon didn’t have the heart to tell her “stupid” might as well have been his middle name at this point. He’d fallen in love with a human and he wasn’t going to give that up. He tried to forget Yang but it wasn’t an option anymore. He missed her, he still loved her. He was willing to give up everything to be with her again.

So he went to Salem.

The woman’s gaze looked into his very core. Her eyes were fixed on him, unmoving and emotionless.

“What is it you wished to speak with me about, Mercury?” She said in greeting.

“It’s about my time in the human world.”

“Cinder warned me about this.” Salem said, shaking her head. “What of it?”

Mercury gathered his confidence.

“I want to go back.”

“And why should I grant this request?”

“I’ll give you anything you want.”

“What could you possibly give me that I don’t already have. I already own you, Mercury. When you died and became a demon you gave me your soul. That’s all I require from you.”

“Then let me go. Let me go back to Yang-- to her world. I’ve given you everything I can.”

Salem hummed.

“I will, under one condition.”

“Anything.”

“You give up your status as a demon. You will never return to this realm or get back your powers. You will never be able to harness magic as a mortal. You’ll be one hundred percent ordinary.” Salem said.

Mercury nodded.

“I’ll do it.”

“Enjoy mortality, Mercury Black.”

**~*~**

It was a dark, stormy night. Perfect for a summoning. Yang wished she had the energy to even try. The tv was on but she couldn’t focus. She couldn’t get her mind off the night she’d summoned Mercury. It had been just like tonight… She was pulled from her thoughts by a loud knock on the door.

She pulled herself off the couch and to the door. It was late, she didn’t know who on Remnant it could be but what did she have to lose? She sighed and opened the door. The last person she expected to see was Mercury.

“Mercury?” She asked, stunned.

“Hey, blondie.”

“Mercury it’s been four months! Where have you been!”

“Spent two of that in my old realm, two of it adjusting to my new body.” He said quietly. He seemed nervous.

“Your new body?”

“Yang...I’m human now. I got...my old body back from before…” He hesitated. “It isn’t the same. But…”

“Mercury, I’ll love you no matter what your body is like. I love you for you. Demon, human, I don’t care. I love you, moron.”

Mercury sighed in relief and pulled Yang in for a hug.

“Love you too, blondie.”


End file.
